Chapter 115: Anything Is Possible

Qin Chuan had not blinked directly onto the King of Golden Men earlier because he had calculated the King’s one-second immunity window.

With his ultimate ability active, the King of Golden Men’s speed stat had soared past 1125. If Qin Chuan’s sword failed to trigger a slowing effect at that moment, he would be forced into a passive position. After all, the King still had nine seconds of speed buffs remaining, which was no laughing matter. Therefore, the timing of Qin Chuan’s strike had to be flawless. Too early and it would be ineffective; too late and he would miss. It was a true test of his mastery over timing.

Qin Chuan had deliberately blinked to a position two meters in front of the King, intentionally offering him an opening. Sure enough, the frustrated King of Golden Men could no longer hold back and unleashed his Ruyi Golden Blade, handing Qin Chuan the key to victory.

Once the sword strike landed and the slowing effect took hold, the King’s speed instantly plummeted to 675. The sensation of being suddenly slowed down was so agonizing it nearly made him cough up blood. Without this hindrance, the King might have been able to turn the tide during the remaining nine seconds. Unfortunately, reality offers no "what ifs."

With the first strike successful, Qin Chuan pressed his advantage, landing two freezing effects and maxing out his rage gauge. Throughout those nine seconds, the King of Golden Men was unable to even mount a counterattack, forced to endure Qin Chuan’s onslaught in sheer torment. For a ruler who had never known such humiliation, the internal damage caused by his own frustration was profound.

The next moment, Qin Chuan’s critical strike roared through.

"Ding! Critical hit triggered. Damage increased by 150%, and the target is knocked airborne."

"Ah!"

"Crack!"

The King of Golden Men let out a pained howl as a massive fissure split his sturdy frame.

"Congratulations on getting a taste of the 'spicy stick'."

Already powerless to resist, the King suffered catastrophic damage, losing half his health in a single blow. During his ultimate, the King had possessed over 1250 toughness, rendering Qin Chuan’s attacks largely ineffective. But once those nine seconds passed, the King’s nightmare truly began.

Without the ultimate’s buff, his toughness reverted to 1000, and his speed, hindered by the slow effect, dropped to 540. The King, already struggling to move, was now plunged into a desperate plight, made worse by the fact that he was still airborne. At that moment, his spirit nearly collapsed; he finally understood the terror of Qin Chuan and felt the suffocating chill of death.

"Damn it! I am not reconciled to this!"

The King of Golden Men roared his defiance, but what did it matter? In a battle of life and death, the winner takes all, and the loser becomes nothing. Qin Chuan pursued him like a phantom, landing a freezing blow before swiftly finishing him off. In the end, the King of Golden Men departed this world with his dream of unification shattered, bringing a tumultuous life to a close.

Qin Chuan did not bother interrogating the King about the location of the treasure vault because it wasn't necessary. With the Sleepy Bug, he had no concerns about finding it; he only needed the key to unlock the vault, which was clearly in the King’s possession.

"Ding! Killed Level 29 King of Golden Men. Gained 315,000 experience points. Bonus 100% experience for cross-level kill. Congratulations, host gained 630,000 experience points."

"Ding! Congratulations to the host for reaching Level 27. New skill points acquired."

"Ding! Devour successful. Gained 50,000 evolution points."

"Ding! Congratulations, host's evolution points are full. Please select an evolution path."

"Ding! Gained 20 points of Golden Source."

...

After claiming the King’s head, Qin Chuan enjoyed a double blessing, leveling up in the process.

"Great King, he... he's dead!"

"Run! Run away!"

...

Terrified to their very cores, the remaining Golden Men fled, not daring to linger for even a second.

"Ah, ah, ah!"

Qin Chuan did not want to leave any loose ends, so he decided to finish the job and wiped out the remaining Golden Men. After all, killing one was the same as killing two; there was no difference. Walking over the mountains of corpses and rivers of blood, Qin Chuan had become a true Black Magic Sword.

After absorbing the essences, Qin Chuan upgraded his second-stage ultimate to Level 2 and chose another mutation evolution.

"Ding! Congratulations to the host for a successful lucky evolution. Gained 40 points of Sharpness, and 20 points each of Toughness and Speed."

Following this operation, Qin Chuan’s attributes shifted once more.

[Host]: Qin Chuan
[Title]: Nine-Star Elite (All attributes +45)
[Type]: Dragon-Pattern Cold Jade Sword (2)
[Rank]: Third-Tier Top Quality (Additional +20% Sharpness)
[Quality]: Unique (Additional +15% to all attributes)
[Level]: 27

[Attributes]
Sharpness: 1274+
Toughness: 812+
Speed: 846+
Evolution Points: 1.102 million / 416 million
Experience: 7.5028 million / 3.328 billion
Rage: 10/100
Slaughter Value: 19185/20000

[Innate Talents]
Devour Essence, Intermediate Morphic Form

Five Elements Essence: 204/2000

[Skills]
Flow Strike: Stage 1 Flow Strike Level 3, Stage 2 Glide Level 1 (5 meters)
Blink: Stage 1 Blink Level 3, Stage 2 Immunity Level 6 (1.8 seconds)
Strengthen: Stage 1 Strengthen Level 3, Stage 2 Freeze Level 6 (30% slow, 60% freeze chance, 3-second duration)
Falling Sky Flow Strike: Stage 1 Level 3, Stage 2 Movement Level 2

[Mutated Skill]
Level 3 Slaughter (Passive): Temporarily increases sharpness by 15%, reduces all enemy attributes within 30 meters by 15% upon killing a target. Duration: 3 seconds.

[Special Skill]
Protective Dragon Aura (Active): Increases toughness by 100%, lasts 3 seconds, 3-minute cooldown, no level.

At this moment, Zizi and the Sleepy Bug walked over the sea of corpses. Looking at the carnage, Zizi sighed, "Qin Chuan, you are becoming increasingly bloodthirsty, and your methods are growing more ruthless."

Qin Chuan looked at Zizi in silence for a moment before replying, "I want to live freely. I refuse to be enslaved by anyone, so I must choose to become the strongest. Besides, I have never forgotten my promise."

In that instant, Zizi seemed to see a heroic man walking toward her, a perfect smile playing on his lips.

"Chuan, is this what you will look like in the future?"

Zizi’s heart had undergone a great change. She had once thought Qin Chuan’s claim of becoming human was merely a joke. But now, it didn't seem like a joke at all. A flicker of hope began to grow within her. Perhaps, anything was possible.

A short while later, the trio began to clean up the battlefield. Qin Chuan found a Golden Source Pearl and a black orb inside the King’s body. The black orb had no attributes; it was clearly the key to the treasure vault. However, Qin Chuan deduced that it was only one of several keys; otherwise, the King would have opened the vault long ago. As for the Golden Source Pearl, he tossed it to the Sleepy Bug—Golden Source was of little use to him now. The Sleepy Bug, having devoured the pearl, became even more brilliant, like a golden silkworm. Perhaps one day, it would break its cocoon and transform into a dragon.

They then raided the King’s treasure vault, which contained many valuable items for boosting attributes. These were naturally Qin Chuan’s exclusive spoils, and after devouring them, his attributes rose again: Sharpness +23, Speed +24, Toughness +19.

His final stats: Sharpness 1323+, Speed 880+, Toughness 840+.

"Next, let’s go meet an old friend."

"Mm-hmm."

At that moment, the King of Mud was still lazily crawling in his mud pit, comfortably basking in the earth's embrace, completely unaware that a disaster was about to descend.